Wednesday, July 20, 2016

Puppy Update!

The puppies are here! Bailey and her two baby boys are doing wonderfully. Conversely, Blake and I are feeling raw and completely exhausted after yesterday. As cliche as it is, our emotions were truly on a roller coaster.

We adopted Bailey about 3 weeks ago, and didn't know she was pregnant until we picked her up that day. She is a sweet girl and has been a lovely addition to our family. The puppies were just an unexpected bonus! I did so much reading and research because we had never intended to breed Delly and we ourselves don't plan on having any babies.

Our vet was very helpful and answered all of our questions. It seemed like we could just set miss Bailey up with a little nest and she would do all of the work. Our vet said that sometimes you'll go to bed and wake up and there will be puppies! I was relieved at how little we needed to intervene. The X ray showed 6 or 7 puppies!

Monday night we could tell it wasn't going to be much longer. Bailey had refused to eat and was really rooting around in her "nest". I slept on the couch with her and literally woke up every time she moved. About 3 or 4 in the morning I could tell something was happening. She started working on pushing out what is basically a water sac. That can take some time, but after it comes out the puppies will be on the way. Bailey really worked on that for a good 45 minutes. Then she kind of took a break and we both fell asleep. I was laying on the ground next to her at this point, just in case. When I woke up it was about 7 and I realized nothing had happened since.

I got kind of nervous, being a newbie, and I called a 24 hour vet nearby for advice. They weren't helpful at all. I wanted to know if I need to help her, or if it was normal. They suggested I call my regular vet when they opened at 7:30. So, I jumped in the shower and got dressed. Blake was, as usual, very level headed and tried to assure me everything would be fine. I knew he was right, but I was just so nervous, and there are some horror stories on the internet about these things.

When I called our vet, one of the techs assured me it sounded normal and even described exactly what I was seeing. She, then however wanted to just verify that with the doctor. The Vet decided she wanted us to come in because pugs do typically have trouble with birthing, since their little heads are so big.

Blake and I were a little conflicted at that point. We wanted to be safe and have the Vet look at her, but we also didn't want to be pressured into having a C Section unessecarily. They are expensive and surgery isn't ideal for any patient.

After examining her, the Vet could feel a little guy in there who was definitely stuck. She gave us the choice of having a C Section, or giving Bailey a dose of Oxytocin to help her deliver normally. We chose the Oxytocin, with a C Section being the next step if it didn't work.

So, this is where it gets emotional for me. The first 2 puppies didn't make it. In fact, the Vet brought one out for us to see, and that brought me to tears. It was horrible! The little guy was so cute, and looked just like a little Delly. Both the 1st pup and the 2nd had gotten stuck in the birth canal for too long. I really struggled with this at the time. I thought that maybe if I had just taken her into the emergency clinic it wouldn't have happened.

I feel like definitely caused a scene in that waiting room. The 2 front desk ladies were awesome and really talked me through it. Blake was sad too, but he held it together at lot better than I did. Not having any sleep the night before, and not eating breakfast didn't help my mental state, for sure.

The 3rd puppy, however is alive and well! After realizing it probably wasn't a great idea to show me a dead puppy, the Vet came out with number 3 who was crying and thriving. The relief in that moment was intense. Happy tears replaced the sad ones.

Number 4 was born alive, but he was very weak and didn't make it despite their efforts. That was also very sad, but I was a bit more stable after the previous dose of good news. Then came number 5, who was also a little fighter and doing great. Bailey started taking a break then, which is normal, and they let us back to see her. She was already such a good momma, but you could tell she was wiped out.

We were expecting up to 7, so we knew there could still be some more in there. They did an x ray just to see, and that was interesting. There was definately one more, but it also looked like there could be another puppy behind it. But, it/they were clearly up by her chest and hadn't started working its way down yet.

Together, we decided to wait 2 hours before deciding to go forward with a C Section. That break was so welcomed. Blake and I went home and instead of napping like we planned, we started doing chores around the house. That helped me so much. Our house has kind of been a disaster during our remodel, and we had been out of town this weekend. It was completely therapeutic to get my mind on something else.

Since they had our consent, while we were gone, the Vet decided to go ahead with the surgery. The last puppy's face wasn't quite right so he didn't make it either. But, during the surgery they discovered why Bailey was having such a hard time. Her uterus was twisted up, and that explained why the first two got stuck and why the x ray looked like it did.

To expect 7 and to go home with 2 was very sad and difficult. After reflection, we are just thrilled that Bailey ended up with us. Without a full belly, she is skin and bones. Her care before coming to us was tragic, and may have contributed to the complications. Who knows what her day would have been like yesterday if she wasn't with us.

We are trying to leave Bailey and the boys alone, but it's so hard not to just sit there and stare at them! They are so cute and their cries are precious. I may or may not have checked on them a few several times last night to make sure they were okay!

Blake and I are keeping one of them, and the other is going to live with family members who live right down the street. One of my fears in the beginning was having to give these little innocent puppies to strangers, not knowing how they would be treated. So it's quite a relief to keep them both close by and with people we know and love.

Okay, that's enough for now! Writing this out was also very therapeutic for me. We are really excited overall, and you can expect a thousand pictures of these little ones in the future!

5 comments:

Omgosh. I want one! I'm so so sorry she lost some puppies. Maddie and Belle have both had babies and neither of them had any puppies survive. We weren't around for BabyBelle's, but Military Husband did have Maddie when she was pregnant (before he met me). He said it was heartbreaking.But you have two little adorable pug puppies!!! And mommy pug is so very brave. I'm glad her puppy will be with you and family so she will see both of them!!

Heartbreaking is exactly the word! Our emotions were all over the place. I know they aren't human, but I have to wonder if they feel any sort of loss too. Anyways, yes! We are focusing on our 2 cuties!! They are doing great, and Bailey is an awesome mom to them. It's going to be a really cool journey!

This made me cry! Happy tears, then sad tears, then happy tears again! Thank goodness there are people as lovely as you in this world or who knows what would have happened to Bailey and her babies. Thank you for sharing this heartbreaking but ultimately beautiful post and have fun raising those gorgeous boys! xo